Principal didn’t report sex assault, district says
YOUR SCHOOLS
The superintendent of the Northern Local School District in Perry County has suspended the Sheridan High School principal, saying he didn’t properly report the sexual assault of a female student.
Superintendent Thomas Perkins informed Principal Chris King of the unpaid suspension in a Feb. 21 letter, and said he will recommend that the school board begin proceedings to fire King.
A guidance counselor provided the girl’s name to the principal after the girl said she had been assaulted. She also said she had been bullied by the assailant, the letter says.
Ohio law requires school administrators to report child abuse or neglect to Children Services or law enforcement and King didn’t, Perkins wrote.
“As a mandatory reporter ... you were duty-bound to make a report if you had a reasonable basis to suspect the abuse of a child, which I believe you did in this instance,” Perkins wrote. “Not only did you not report, but you also failed to recognize and appropriately act with respect to your obvious conflict of interest in assessing the strength of the
evidence against and what should be done with respect to the perpetrator of the assault and bullying.”
“Given your conflict,” the superintendent wrote, King should have removed himself from involvement in the matter as principal and ensured that an impartial administrator handled it.
“At the very least you should have sought guidance from the district central office before electing to handle this sensitive matter yourself. Finally, you also disregarded
my directive to you not to discuss this matter with the district guidance counselor to whom the victim confided.”
Perkins did not specify in the letter what the conflict of interest was, and could not be reached to comment Thursday. King did not respond to a voicemail.
King, 48, has worked for the district since 1991, including as a teacher, assistant principal and wrestling coach before becoming principal in 2013. He makes $98,927 annually, district Treasurer Elizabeth Clark said.